


Small Magic is Everywhere

by Silex



Category: Original Work
Genre: Children, Fairies, Gen, Horses, Imagination, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:07:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22833031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silex/pseuds/Silex
Summary: Johnathan knew, from all the stories his parents had read him that you had to be careful around fairies, even if he didn’t particularly like those stories.Or think that fairies were real.Cowboys on the other hand, now they were real.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 19
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 5





	Small Magic is Everywhere

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Edonohana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edonohana/gifts).



> I saw your prompts and thought that they were all so awesome. I hope this is to your liking.

Johnathan knew, from all the stories his parents had read him that you had to be careful around fairies, even if he didn’t particularly like those stories.

Or think that fairies were real.

Cowboys on the other hand, now they were real.

So were mountain men and fur trappers.

Like in the books he enjoyed reading, real men who went on real adventures far more interesting than any cursed prince or woeful, doe eyed princess and the fairies that helped or hindered them on a whim.

Another thing that was real were horses and mules and the men in the stories he liked tended to have one or the other, sometimes both.

The idea of having a faithful horse, one who’d never spook and stood fast in the face of danger, be it from wild animals, a stampede or bandits looking to start trouble. He’d even take a pack mule, never balking under the heaviest of loads and almost preternaturally clever.

When he was out in the backyard it was to make towns in his sandbox for his toys to protect, the overgrown back end of the property, right before the woods became a frontier wilderness, full of wild animals and adventure.

And in his imagination he rode alongside those men, on a horse or mule of his own, because even in his imagination he wasn’t going to be picky. Having the animal mattered more than what kind of animal it was, which didn’t mean that he didn’t have favorites. Appaloosas, with their wild eyes were favorites for their unusual appearance, but American Quarter Horses with all of their history were easily the best.

Because of this the bookshelf in his room didn’t just have westerns, but books on horses and taking care of them. He knew that a horse was a big responsibility and, even in his imagination, taking care of it was important.

It was strange then, that his interests and the stories his parents told him would intersect in such an odd way when he was playing at the edge of the yard, or maybe just past it, because to him the other side of the stone marker was something magical, a delineation between his home and the imagined wilderness.

When he first heard the small noise coming from the grass he assumed that it was a bird, or maybe the ornery brown-furred mole that his mother tolerated in the garden, going so far as to have named it Gellert, struggling with a particularly large worm.

It wasn’t though.

It looked like a butterfly with its wings of green and gold, but it had perfect little arms and legs, a dress that looked like pastel flower petals and a head with long hair that was the same shade of green as its wings.

The little figure was caught in a spider’s web, the spider luckily nowhere in sight, but given how tightly wound up it was escape seemed unlikely.

Even if it wasn’t the kind of adventure he’d wanted, protecting the weak and helpless was a large part of what he imagined.

He freed the fairy without a second thought and she flew off, hummingbird fast in a blur of colors.

He didn’t think anything more of it until the next day he went to his sandbox and saw a whole group of fairies waiting for him in his sandbox. Thistle helmed ones in leaf green attire holding rose thorn spears, a rainbow of ones clad in petal-like dresses, and at the center of them all, was one in an iridescent red and green dress that looked like it was woven from feathers. The fairy that he’d saved yesterday stood next to her, shoulder slumped and eyes downcast.

“I’m Valendia,” the fairy in red and green said proudly, “Queen of the Fairies and I’ve learned that you saved my daughter’s life.”

She pushed the reluctant younger fairy forward.

The green and gold fairy looked everywhere but at him and her mother, arms crossed over her chest, “You saved my life and so I’m indebted to you.”

“And,” the Queen prompted, drawing herself up taller, which would have been more impressive if she’d been larger than Johnathan’s thumb, which wasn’t to say that she wasn’t impressive, just in a small way.

“I need to reward you…somehow,” she glanced plaintively at the Queen, “There, is that what you wanted mom?”

“You’re a Princess Valmira, you need to start acting like one!” the Queen reprimanded, “You actually have to offer him something, or did you think that there’d be no debt if I didn’t find out about it?”

“It’s fine, really,” Johnathan said quickly, “I don’t really need anything.”

Besides, he couldn’t think of anything to ask the fairy for.

“Oh no, Valmira’s not going to get off that easily after what she did, trying to hide that you saved her,” the Queen frowned, and looked around at the town or sand and sticks in the sandbox, “You’re imaginative enough. I’m sure you can think of something.”

Well, if she was going to put it like that it was an invitation to ask for something she couldn’t possibly give. That way at least Valmira could get out of the situation she was in.

“Well, if I really need to ask for something I suppose I’d like a horse, or even a mule.”

“See,” the Queen smiled up at him, “That wasn’t so hard.”

Then she turned to the Princess, “Was it Valmira? You can just nip off to the royal stables and find a suitable reward for him. He didn’t even ask for magic like you were worried he would. I told you that humans weren’t all like the ones in those stories you’re always reading. A good number of them want simple things and what could be simpler than a horse?”

Johnathan nodded, wondering what his parents would think when he ended up with a horse of his own, let alone a fairy horse, whatever that would be like.

“You can go now dear,” the Queen smiled up at him, “Valmira and the royal grooms will bring you your horse tomorrow.”

The next day he looked out the window and was only a little disappointed to see that there was no horse, fairy or otherwise, standing in the back yard. In the stories his parents had told him fairies were tricky and capricious so he’d probably said something wrong and negated the offer.

Except, even from the window he could see the colorful procession in his sandbox.

Johnathan hurried down to the sandbox and the fairies presented him with a horse.

A fairy horse.

It was pale blue in color, not gray or dappled or roan, but blue, with silvery hooves and bright eyes. Its pearly white mane and tail were long, nearly reaching the ground, and it stood looking fearlessly up at him despite not being that much larger than a hamster.

He thanked them profusely for the gift, for the stories his parents read to him made it clear that you had to treat fairies respectfully.

It was hard to tell with how small she was, but it looked like the princess Valmira blushed as she stammered something about it being nothing, really, and that she’d picked the best horse she could for him.

Best horse or not, it wasn’t as though he knew enough about fairy horses to know, he wasn’t going to turn down the gift of a horse, even if it was one so small.

The fairies left, satisfied that the debt that their princess owed him had been paid and he was left to figure out what to do with the horse.

Despite being small enough for him to pick up it acted in a decidedly horse like manner, walking around in the sand until it reached the edge of the box, snorting and then pulling at a blade of grass that leaned over the edge.

He had a horse of his own, one that he understood he needed to take care of.

The rest of the morning was spent building a stable out of twigs and grass, the floor of it lined with carefully flattened out moss. He even went through the trouble of making a fence out of vines and leaves, only to discover that it was impossible to keep the fairy horse penned in. It was fine when he was watching it, but the second he turned away it would find a way onto the other side of the fence.

Even blinking was enough for it to get out, something which he tested repeatedly.

Fortunately the horse seemed to want to follow him, which meant that there was no danger of losing it.

Then his mother called him in for lunch.

He tried to insist that he wanted to eat outside, but his mother wouldn’t have any of it, saying that there were some meals that had to be eaten inside and that grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup were one of them.

Reluctantly, he guided the little horse into its paddock and walked slowly backwards into the house.

“Is this some new game?” his mother had asked as she put the soup and sandwiches on the table.

Johnathan shrugged, looking out into the backyard.

He was pretty sure that he could see the horse out there, a tiny pale blue speck next to his sandbox, but then, between one bite of sandwich and the next it was gone.

Entirely.

It wasn’t next to the paddock, or halfway across the yard.

The little horse was gone.

He felt a stab of fear, he’d been given a gift and already managed to lose it and knowing fairies from his parents’ stories, they were sure to reappear now to ask him about the horse he’d lost.

There was no telling how much trouble he would be in for it.

His mother must have seen the look on his face, for she stopped washing the dishes to look at him, “Is everything okay?”

“I think I lost something,” he admitted, staring out at where the horse had been, trying to figure out how to ask for help without actually telling what he needed help with.

“A toy?” his mother asked, “I saw you playing out there all morning, building something, so it probably hasn’t gone far. I’ll help you look after you eat.”

“Maybe,” he said quietly, not sure how much help she could give. There was a chance, because of fairies, that she might not be able to see the horse at all, even if it was still there.

She went back to washing dishes, only to immediately turn the water off again, “Did you hear that?”

“What?” lost in his own thoughts Johnathan had no idea what she was talking about.

“I think the sink’s leaking again,” his mother said, bending down to check inside the cabinets. She felt around and shook her head, “No, it’s dry down there, but I swear I can hear water dripping. You’ve got better ears. Can you hear it?”

Now that she mentioned it he could, a faint tapping and sliding noise, not from under the sink, but over by the garbage bin.

Johnathan looked and there, nibbling on a bit of apple peel that had fallen out of the trash, was the fairy horse.

His mother turned to look at nearly the same time, her eyes going wide.

“Johnathan,” she whispered, “Go and get your father.”

“It’s not a mouse,” he said quickly, sure that’s what his mother thought because in her stories fairy magic could trick the people it wasn’t meant for.

“I know,” she said hurriedly, “Be quiet and don’t frighten it. We need to get it outside.”

So she could see the fairy horse as well.

“It’s a horse,” he explained.

“I know,” his mother replied, “Your father can help us get it back outside.”

Of all the things that could have happened, this was nothing like what he’d expected.

“The queen of the fairies gave it to me as a gift,” Johnathan admitted just as his father walked in.

“Did she wear orange, black and white and have dragonfly wings?” His father asked without pausing.

Johnathan shook his head, surprised and worried. Was his dad making fun of him?

“It was worth asking,” his father laughed, “Even if fairies have such small queendoms. Back when I was a boy I rescued the local queen of the fairies in the meadow across the street from my house. A cat had cornered her in an old milk bottle and I chased it off. I can look to see if I have any old bits of lumber in the garage to help build a proper stable for your horse.”

Then his father walked away, leaving Johnathan more confused and worried than ever.

“Don’t worry,” his mother smiled at him when his father left, “He always worried that there were no fairies around here because of the Duke of Underbarrow.”

Johnathan looked warily at his mother. She was less likely to make jokes about something, especially something so frightening sounding.

“When I was in high school I managed to impress the leader of the gnomes that live in one of the old mausoleums the local cemetery and he gave me a guard mole in return. That’s where Gellert came from,” his mother paused thoughtfully, “Once your father’s made a pen for your horse we should probably introduce the two of them. Have you named the horse yet?”

Johnathan looked back and forth from his mother to the horse. He’d never imagined that magic was so common, let alone that both his parents had encounters with it. Rather than being disappointed that his encounter with the fairies hadn’t been special to him, it got him wondering. What else was out there, just past his own backyard, that he hadn’t encountered yet?

Suddenly it seemed very possible that there was adventure out there, waiting for him, maybe not the same kind of adventures like in the books he enjoyed, but adventures in unexplored places and unimagined frontiers none the less.


End file.
